


Two Ahead

by risquetendencies



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Failures & Reassurances, First Dates, Fluff, I Tried To Use Volleyball Lingo, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 11:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5964928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/risquetendencies/pseuds/risquetendencies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A solid half-hour into their movie, Koutarou knows he’s screwed up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Ahead

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trash__universe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trash__universe/gifts).



A solid half-hour into their movie, Koutarou knows he’s screwed up. The thought toys with his senses, and for a while his body can’t seem to decide if it would rather be weighed down by the doom of his incompetence, or bounce around the narrow theater seat to let his nerves have free reign. Neither are great options, and he’s kind of hoping a third one materializes.

Slotting his eyes to his left, he tries to cop a glance at Akaashi. 

Of all dates to mess up, it has to be their first one. The one he worked tirelessly to brainstorm for, and nearly died in the process of asking him out on! The one that _matters_ , because how well it goes will determine if Akaashi will want to go on more dates with him in the future, or if he’ll realize Bokuto isn’t really potential boyfriend material. What if how badly this sucks has already made up his mind for him and he’s sitting through the rest of the movie out of obligation?

At the notion, he wilts into his chair, shifting his head to drape it against the opposite shoulder. One palm comes to rest against his forehead, steadying the pose. 

Feeling the stormclouds beginning to roll in strong, Koutarou forces himself to mull over the situation. He’s going to save this somehow, providing inspiration is kind enough to cooperate, and he’ll definitely convince Akaashi ****that a second date is worth his while.

He can’t let him down, not when Akaashi had showed up for their date looking so _cute_ , cute in a way that tipped him off that maybe he wasn’t the only one who’d ravaged his closet beforehand to find an outfit. 

However hard it was to believe that they were doing this outside of a dream, that detail gave the impression that Akaashi was at least intrigued. How much so was debatable, unfortunately.

A movie date was traditional. All of the other ideas Koutarou had come up with at first weren’t, so it was nebulous whether they were bright ideas or not. Roughly two-thirds of them had been vetoed by Kuroo, a handful by Kenma under duress (something about Bokuto shutting up for the night if he participated), and the rest he’d given up on himself out of fear. Looking back on it now, he wished he’d taken the risk. At least with his alternate considerations, they wouldn’t be staring at a screen instead of talking to each other.

He sneaks another look. Akaashi is fiddling with the sleeve of his sweater, tugging it down to better cover his wrist. His attention isn’t on the screen at all. Neither of their minds are in this, Koutarou realizes, and the impulse to do something returns, drowning out everything else inside him.

They are pretty much alone in the dim theater apart from people sitting several rows ahead of them, but the sheer noise of the solemn background music from the movie is distraction enough. He’s just glad he won’t be blocking anyone’s view when he moves next.

Leaping to his feet, Koutarou makes a grab for Akaashi’s wrist, tugging him bodily out of his chair. This earns him a confused stare, but there’s an undercurrent of excitement there that he rarely gets to see. It emboldens him and before his mind catches up to his movements, they’re striding out of the theater entirely and into the faint chill of the world outside.

Once they stop however, his sullen mood resurfaces. He drops his gaze to the frozen ground, studying the way the fallen leaves glisten with frost.

“So, that was just… bad,” he initiates, crunching one underfoot.

“What about it was?” The challenge issues quietly.

“All of it. I messed up and instead of doing something fun, I picked this out for us to do. I thought you might dig these weird types of movies but I guess I was wrong about that. And now you’re bored!” He exhales loudly, digging his heel into the pummeled remains of the leaf. “I really suck at this, sorry ‘Kaashi…. I wanted this to be better, but we weren’t even able to talk to each other which is the whole freakin’ point…”

Feeling interminably moody, Koutarou quiets, and he forgets his earlier resolve to salvage the occasion. 

If he’s lucky, they can forget about this failure too and things can go back to how they were before, friends and teammates, with Koutarou thinking Akaashi is a little too overqualified to spend time with a guy like him. That sort of distance suits them better than trying to pretend he could ever pull himself together enough to be worthy of Akaashi.

Still, he can’t silence the part of him that doggedly wishes he could be.

“Then this was a good decision, coming out here. That’s one more thing you know about me now.” 

Koutarou’s head tentatively peers up. 

“I actually like the same films you do, though more so action than comedy. An intelligent plot never hurts either. These ones aren’t bad, although they’re a little dry for my taste.”

It doesn’t perk him up by much, but it’s a start. Despite the nudge, Koutarou can’t help but let his shoulders slump in shame.

“I should have let you pick what we did,” he mutters darkly to the ground below. “You wouldn’t have messed up this bad. You would’ve known that this was a stupid idea for the first time.”

When he responds, Akaashi’s voice is authoritative, not to be reckoned with.

“Once you give me your perfect date, I’ll take my turn. Not until then.”

“But then I’ll always be like, two dates ahead of you-” another line of protest looms, but Akaashi swiftly cuts him off.

“Think of it this way, Bokuto-san. What point difference does a team need to win a set? Two. Two ahead is a great thing.”

The volleyball analogy permeates his brain, and it sticks to his last dreg of good sense, letting himself understand the younger boy’s point. He’s on the verge of agreeing when, with all the savage speed of a rip tide, the underlying gist of what Akaashi’s saying overwhelms him.

“WHOA, HOLD UP! …WE CAN GO ON MORE DATES?!”

Okay, and maybe bellowing it that close to Akaashi’s face wasn’t strictly advisable, but one second after, he’s a little stricken by the dark eyes narrowing his direction.

Quickly bestowing him with an apology, Koutarou then waits for some sort of confirmation, eyes wide and hopeful. He hadn’t screwed up - somehow, though he hardly understands how he pulled that off - and now he just needs his date to seal that fact. 

All his self-loathing vanishes like smoke.

It takes Akaashi a moment to process, but then he’s stepping closer, and Koutarou starts to hear his heartbeat in his ears because really, Akaashi could just say whatever he needed to say from over there, at a _safe_  distance, and-

Lips meld firm against his and he short-circuits. His whole body freezes, and all he can do is stand there helplessly for a few glorious moments before the warmth and security of their kiss fades.

“Yes. And you may have the lead in that area, but I won’t lose to you, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi whispers, voice silken and full of promise. He’s still close enough for Koutarou to feel his breath swirl against his cheek, and his brain is entirely not sure what it wants to focus on, that, or the provoking words spilling from his mouth. “…I’m aiming for a break.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been in a bit of a writing rut since publishing my last one-shot, and @trash__universe was kind enough to give me a prompt to work with to try and get over that rut. This was probably a bit rough, but hopefully enjoyable. Thank you for reading!
> 
> You can always find me on [Tumblr](http://www.risquetendencies.tumblr.com/). Feel free to stop by to share headcanons or other prompts. ^__^
> 
>  **UPDATE:** This fic now has a wonderful piece of art to go with it. You can find it [here](https://helical-synodic.tumblr.com/post/160780916240/lips-meld-firm-against-his-and-he-short-circuits/).


End file.
